


Forgiveness

by lilacsilver



Series: All at Sea [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-13
Updated: 2013-03-13
Packaged: 2017-12-05 05:43:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/719526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacsilver/pseuds/lilacsilver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>He's just come home, and she's there, holding out a hand.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forgiveness

            She’s not a port in a storm. She’s more like the sea, uncertain and unpredictable and wild, and he loves her all the more for it. And just like the sea, there are days when she’s calm and steady.

            This is one of those days, and he’s grateful, because that’s what he needs. He’s just come home from another bad session with one of the SHIELD shrinks, and she’s there, holding out a hand.

            He sinks to his knees in front of her and wraps his arms around her waist, and she softly strokes his hair. Her hands are trembling, he notices. Or maybe he’s the one who’s shaking. It doesn’t much matter.

            “What happened?” she asks. “Talk to me, James.”

            She’s the only one who calls him that. To everyone else he’s Bucky, or Barnes. His real name on her lips is the closest thing he’s had to a home in decades. He releases his hold on her, and she kneels so she can meet his eyes.

            He can’t say it. Not to her. She doesn’t deserve to be saddled with any more of his shit than she already is, and it’s not fair to keep weighing her down. So he just shakes his head, and watches her eyes grow sad.

            “Honey, please,” she says. “I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me.”

            That’s almost exactly what the shrink keeps telling him, although the doc is never this patient and kind. But he stands up and walks away, leaving her kneeling on the floor. He hears her rise a moment later.

            “James!” She’s pleading now, worried and desperate. He doesn’t turn back.

            “Leave it, baby girl. Let me deal with it.”

            It hits him that _this_ is what’s not fair to her. She’s been by his side for three years now, making sure he never has cause to doubt how she feels. And now he’s shutting her out.

            “Please,” she says. “You don’t have to do this alone.”

            “I never asked for your help,” he says. Behind him, she lets out a sob. That, more than his realization, is what makes him stop and turn around and go to her.

            He buries his face in her hair and asks for forgiveness he knows he doesn’t deserve. She kisses him hard, and he pushes back until she softens and yields and lets him draw her to the floor.


End file.
